swedishfriend wrote on Mar 20, 2013, 23:17:Reading the full article I must point out that they are talking about being able to keep games up to date in low power states. They are not talking about requiring an internet connection to play games.

Like Steam.

See, that'd be smart. PS3 got nailed for how long it takes to play games, and even with the Xbox it can be frustrating to come home, pop in Borderlands to play with a buddy and spend even 5-10 minutes watching it download, reboot, download, reboot, etc.

Reading the full article I must point out that they are talking about being able to keep games up to date in low power states. They are not talking about requiring an internet connection to play games.

I wouldn't discount the millions of people in the US who are just going to re-up on Xbox without bothering to look at the changes.

For me, a console represents speed and ease of use. I don't have to worry about an internet connection or drivers. My PC is great and I do enjoy gaming on it but I have an issue I have to work through for every 1 out of 2 games I play. Make the console more complex and you introduce these issues and make me wonder why to bother having two machines that do the same thing.

For me this generation has been sort of straddling that line. On the PS3, you probably need 1-2 hours before you can play an updated copy of MGS4 if you bought a disc. But for most games you can ignore the update forever if you like and the installs are often optional or quick. Also the account restrictions were very simple. Once you download a game to the Ps3, it doesn't call home. I can play the same downloaded game on different user accounts with different network credentials no problem. Can't imagine this will last.

There's been a big focus on UI in tech development these past few years so hopefully they'll keep things simple, but I doubt it.

Just an aside but for fun I did a rough estimate on my households vampire usage a few years ago and it was about $40.00 for an entire year. That included major appliances, dozens of devices, entertainment center, etc. It was amusing because I had gotten myself all worked up prior to that, getting an expensive power strip with remotes and looking into crazy home automation stuff but it turned out to be pretty tame.

Always-on? MSFT must be terrified given the whole SC thing.Rightfully terrified. It's an idea that's several years, at least a whole generation, too soon.

Plus mandatory install? PS got knocked for taking forever to play a game the first time. This will be equally bad. Buy a game, come home from work, sit down, put the game in, walk away, wait, make dinner for yourself, take a nap, come back and be ready to play.

It's fine to have the ability to use your internet connection but to require an always online connection for a console is just too far even with the ubiquity of Wifi. Built-in Kinect, meh. Bluray drive and standard hard drive, about bloody time.